Congress Gives Corps of Engineers New Law for Erosion Protection and Storm Damage Reduction Projects

Published: June 22, 2010

ANCHORAGE - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, has receivedguidance for implementing a new law for planning and constructing erosionprotection and storm damage reduction projects in Alaska. Congress passedSection 116 of the Energy and Water Development and Related AgenciesAppropriations Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-85) on Oct. 28, 2009 to replacethe previous law, called Section 117, which Congress repealed on Mar. 11,2009. Corps headquarters developed the guidance and the Assistant Secretaryof the Army for Civil Works approved it.

The new law has significant differences from the previous law. Section 116requires these projects be cost shared between the federal government andlocal sponsors. Design and construction costs are shared at 65 percentfederal funds and 35 percent local funds while planning is cost shared at50-50. Previously, these projects, under Section 117, were accomplished at100 percent federal funding. While Section 116 gives the Corps direction toexecute projects, it does not provide the funds.

Section 116 allows the Corps to deal with projects of any size. Previously,other than Section 117, the Corps' stream bank erosion projects had a limitof $1.5 million per project while hurricane and storm damage reductionprojects had a limit of $3 million.

In the process of determining if there is a federal interest in constructinga project, Section 116 allows the Corps to consider alternate benefits ofsafety, subsistence, public health, and social/cultural categories, inaddition to economic alternatives that cost the least. This more deliberateprocess could take longer to complete before a project could be authorized,funded and constructed.

The new law allows the Corps to protect private property and buildings (withcost sharing), while some of the previous authorities restricted the projectsto protecting public property and facilities only.